


Purple Ears

by Dramaticdragon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Can be read as romantic or as just friends, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, minor minor agnst but its gone already
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 21:57:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11792283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dramaticdragon/pseuds/Dramaticdragon
Summary: Keith starts noticing a few of his features look oddly Galra-like.





	Purple Ears

**Author's Note:**

> ay whaddup if Keith doesn't look like a galra at some point in the story i will actually fight you

 

            “No, no, please don’t….” Keith whispered to his reflection in the mirror. He blinked his eyes, shook his head, and wiped the mirror.

            But every time he looked, they were still there.

            Fuzzy, purple tips on his ears.

            He tried rubbing his ears, scrubbing them furiously, hoping the fuzz would just fall off, like some dead skin. But no, they stayed on as tight as the rest of his ears.

            “Why now…” Keith cried quietly, putting his face in his hands.

            Sure, having the Blades of Marmora helped against the whole “I hate any and all Galra” ideas, but it’s not like anyone on the team was exactly _open_ to the idea of Keith being a Galra. Or, half-Galra? Galrish?

            _How am I supposed to hide this?_ Keith asked himself. It’s not like it was a surprise to start forming Galra traits anymore. The souls of his feet were starting to form purple callouses instead of the normal reddish-tan skin color that callouses were _supposed_ to be. His eyesight was ‘suddenly improving’ in poorly lit areas, and the worst one: his eyes weren’t turning red when he was tired, but rather a feint yellow. But so far, he was able to hide all of this from everyone else. He wore shoes at all times, never mentioned the eyesight, and squinted when he was tired after battle.

            But how was he supposed to hide his own _ears_? His hair covered his ears sometimes, but all he’s have to do was look up and that defense was out. And if he wore his helmet around all day, even when they were eating, that _might raise a few questions_.

            _Maybe if I just grow my hair out by my ears_ … He thought to himself, brushing the tips of his hair. But that isn’t an instant solution, and his hair would still be vulnerable if the wind blew or something.

            _You’re just going to have to deal with this one_ … He told himself, _Don’t mention it yourself, and keep it short if someone asks._

            “-eith! Keith!”

            Keith jumped, realizing that Lance was standing practically right next to him.

            “Ah!” Keith shouted, stepping back in surprise.

            “Man, I thought I was the only one who stared at myself in the mirror,” Lance laughed, motioning with his head towards the mirror.

            “I wasn’t- You shouldn’t- Why are you in here?!” Keith questioned, trying to avoid questions as much as possible.

            “Hunk said dinner was ready. You didn’t answer when he called your intercom in your room, so now I’m here.” Lance explained, clearly confused by all of Keith’s paranoia.

            “Sooo…” Lance finished, “Dinner’s ready.”

            “Right.” Keith nodded, “I’ll… I’ll be right there.”

            “Okay then, Mr. Not-Staring-At-A-Mirror,” Lance chuckled as he left Keith’s room.

            Keith would normally be pretty embarrassed at missing not only an intercom, but also Lance walking into his own room; but the problem at hand was causing him more stress.

            Keith sighed, knowing that there was no other way out of this problem, except for to just go out and try his best to act normal.

            He walked to the food hall, where his chair was the only empty one.

            “Hey Keith, we were starting to get worried!” Hunk greeted, waving his free hand, while the other barreled food into his mouth.

            “Yeah, sorry,” Keith simply said, sitting down and starting to eat.

            “Is something the matter?” Allura asked.

            “No,” Keith answered quickly, “Just thinking about stuff, didn’t realize the time.”

            “That’s good. But make sure you don’t lose the time when there’s an important mission.” Allura reminded.

            The rest of the dinner went off relatively well, with Hunk and Lance trying to educate Coran about their argument of “batman verses superman”, and Hunk getting progressively more upset as both Coran _and_ Allura sided on Superman’s side. The strange argument would usually mildly annoy Keith, but he was happy for the distraction. He sat hunched over for most of the dinner, with his shoulders covering his eartips.

            After dinner, Keith escaped back to the privacy of his room. He hoped to at least get some peace and quiet and think about how to hide this, as well as any new traits that might rear their ugly heads. If they started showing up like this, more and more frequent… He started to worry he’d wake up and look like Zarcon himself.

            _Knock knock!_

“Yeah?” Keith answered, this time aware someone was at his door.

            Lance peeked his head in.

            “You doing okay, dude?” He asked, finally stepping in and closing the door behind him.

            “Yeah, fine.” Keith answered again.

            “You sure?” Lance asked, seeming to be concerned, “You’ve been weirder than normal lately. Are you, like, sick or something?”

            “No, I’m-”

            “’Cause if you have a fever or something, and _I_ catch it from being around you, I swear I’ll spraypaint bunnies all over your lion.”

            Keith blinked, then couldn’t help from chuckle very quietly at how _bizarre_ that threat sounded.

            “I don’t have a fever, I promise.” Keith said, a little more relaxed. When it was just him and Lance, and no one else around, he was able to relax a little more.

            “Okay, but if something is actually up- something I can’t catch, though- you got a whole team who care about you.” Lance said, starting to awkwardly head back to the door.

            “You can’t catch it, but thanks.” Keith rolled his eyes, but immediately regretted his choice of words.

            “Wait,” Lance stopped cold, turning around with a sneaky look, “so there _is_ something up! What is ‘ _it_ ’, huh?!”

            “It’s nothing!” Keith said back quickly, crossing his arms.

            “Nuh-uh, man, there’s totally something up with you! I’m gonna find out!” Lance said, jokingly pointing a finger at Keith.

            But his goofball demeanor was stopped when he realized how stressed Keith looked at the accusation.

            “Wait… Is something actually up?” He asked, this time with a normal, concerned voice.

            “I mean…” Keith mumbled, “Kind of, but it’s not like it matters…”

            Lance took a moment, leaned against the wall, and nodded.

            “’Kay. Well, uh, I was just joking about the whole ‘gonna find out’ stuff. Like, if you don’t wanna talk about it…” Lance said, trying to awkwardly weasel his way of sounding like a jerk.

            “No, it’s cool,” Keith said, “I doubt you’d want to listen, anyway.”

            “C’mon, dude, we’ve been a team for, like, _ever_ now. We all care about you. I’ll listen if you need it.” Lance shrugged, realizing himself how much things have changed in the time they’ve worked together.

            Keith nodded and thought for a moment, then looked back up to Lance.

            “Promise you won’t tell anyone? Especially Allura?” Keith asked.

            “Sure, unless you have a crush on her, in which case I’m _totally_ telling her,” Lance joked, helping calm Keith back down with his childish humor.

            “No, it’s actually…” Keith started, finishing his sentence by brushing back the hair by his ears and giving Lance a clear view of them.

            “So what’s- Oh!” Lance gasped quietly, walking back towards Keith and leaning in to get a close-up view of the small fuzzy purple tips on his ears.

            “Yeah…” Keith groaned, feeling embarrassed and quickly covering them back up. He stared at his lap in shame, waiting in silence for Lance to be weirded out.

            He waited for what felt like an eternity, then Lance finally spoke up.

            “So, like, is that all?” Lance asked, confused.

            “Is that all?!” Keith echoed, “It-It’s a huge problem!”

            Lance blinked, then scratched his neck.

            “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, but if its bothering you so much, you could bother my concealer... Well, probably not, you’re not even close to my skin tone, so it’ll just look worse…

            “But… I look like a _Galra_!” Keith quiet-shouted, panicing.

            “That’s ‘cause you _are_ Galra, aren’t you?” Lance asked, still not acting like this was a big deal at all.

            “Y-Yeah, but if I start looking more like a Galra, then-”

            “Then nothing will change.” Lance interrupted, the firmness in his voice surprising Keith.

            “Nothing will change,” Lance repeated, continuing, “You’re still Keith, man. You were still Keith when we found out you were Galra in the first place, so growing a little purple doesn’t make it any different.”

            Keith was silent for a moment, looking up at Lance. It was rare that Lance was ever so serious. Normally, he’d make jokes to lighten the mood, or just avoid the problem altogether. Only on really important times was Lance so genuinely serious. And for Lance to take this seriously… It actually meant a lot to Keith.

            “Don’t worry about it, man,” Lance said, his demeanor quickly going back to normal, “Besides, chicks probably dig purple ears.”


End file.
